Roger Stone

Theater of Operation: SFOR (Stabilization Force in Bosnia and Herzegovina)

In 1998 the conflict in Bosnia began, which started this whole mess of wars was still going on. The Serbs and Muslims were not getting along and I hear and read it is getting worse. Anyway, here is a fun story from my time in the service. I was a 19Delta, United States Cavalry. We had just received the first shipment of the new up armored Humvees. We were the first. At the time, they were still test vehicles. During this time, I was stationed at Camp Dobal along the Zaus, or the imaginary line between the Serbs and the Muslims. We were able to go out every day on missions, but everyone else had to stay behind. Sometimes, a mechanic would work all day and roll out with us at night just to get out, but the problem was that every time we rolled with a mechanic, something would always happen. An armored Humvee would flip upside down, Or it might slid down a mountain and end up in somebody’s house. It got to the point that taking a mechanic meant never getting back on time. Those guys were the best though. Even if it meant having a Chinook Helicopter fly your Humvee upside down back to camp, or digging your mark 19 out of the mud. There were millions of land mines and thousands of crazy upset people to deal with. Yet the people in my camp were the best band of brothers and sisters to have. One time we rolled up to a U.N bunch of soldiers and I asked them who they thought were the craziest military out here was? They said the United States. I asked why they said that, and they said it was because we never know what you are going to do next. Thought about that for a minute, yup, they were right. I felt proud to serve my Country and it felt good to give back. I do miss it sometimes. We were a family.